Video projection is cool — especially when the video being projected causes an illusion of three-dimensionality. But it’s even cooler to play around with the 3D-ness of the thing you’re projecting the images onto. That’s what artist, designer, and sculptural-filmmaker Dev Harlan does: his installation “Any Color You Like (Pyramid IV)” at New York’s Christopher Henry Gallery looks like the end of 2001 if it tripped out into the real world:

Design blog The Fox is Black calls Harlan a “video proj-enius.” (Get it?!) The way he treats any surface as a possible canvas for mapping his constantly-morphing imagery onto is pretty hypnotic. In this piece, entitled “Suffolk Deluxe Electric Bicycle, 1,” Harlan and a collaborator turn an all-white bicycle into a artfully warped video screen:

The installation reminded me of the eerie “ghost bikes” that commemorate cyclists killed by cars on the streets of New York and other cities, but with a visual twist that’s more whimsically wistful than funereal. What if Harlan were to collaborate (with permission, of course) with the loved ones of the cyclist behind a particular ghost bike memorial, creating a bit of video projection that could commemorate that person by projecting images onto the bike? For all I know, Harlan has already thought of that. But wherever he decides to project his unique brand of 3D video art, the result is always stunning.

Harlan’s most recent show in New York just closed on March 17th, but you can keep up with his work and see his previous work by going to his website.JP